I may be a Virginian, but...

Monday, January 26, 2009

I will always consider myself a Georgian and still think of Jack Kingston as my Congressman (I actually have no idea who my rep is here...) for this exact reason. Apparently, others (who I thought had a sense of humor) didn't find it as humorous. Kuddos to you Jack! I mean...Congressman Kingston.

"WASHINGTON — In between figuring out how to save the economy, adjust to a new president and lead the free world, Congress took time out this week to overwhelmingly pass a resolution honoring the University of Florida Gators.

But not without some staunch opposition from the biggest Georgia Bulldogs backer on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Jack Kingston, the Savannah Republican whose district starts at the Florida state line, just wouldn’t bite on the bill to honor the University of Georgia’s arch-rival for its recent college football national championship.

He was one of only five opponents to the resolution and the only one from Georgia. A total of 399 representatives voted for it — including all five from Oklahoma. Florida beat the University of Oklahoma Sooners 24-14 on Jan. 8 to win the national championship.

Other members of Congress who opposed the resolution said they did so to protest the controversial Bowl Championship Series (BCS) system.

For Kingston, saying nay was a matter of principle.

“Why endanger a longstanding, traditional rivalry in one weak moment of love and kisses?” he said. “It would be a hard thing for me to do.”

Anybody who knows Kingston, who grew up in Athens and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1978, knows he’s true to his school.

The lobby of his D.C. office has pictures of Kingston shaking hands with George Bush, sitting on a plane with Dick Cheney and hanging out with other political top dogs.

But the first pictures visitors see are of Uga, the university’s mascot. One is a “signed” photograph of the bulldog addressed to “Uncle Jack.” The other is a drawing of Uga sitting atop the USS Georgia submarine, done by cartoonist and Atlanta native Jack Davis.

This isn’t the first time Kingston bucked the majority in voting against the Gators.

In 2006, when Florida beat Ohio State in to win the BCS, Kingston cast the sole vote opposing a similar resolution honoring the school’s football team.

Kingston spokesman Chris Crawford said the congressman got more phone calls on that vote than just about anything else he did that year — from Georgia fans congratulating him, and Florida fans chastising him."